Formula 1: Pierre Gasly can expose an FIA rule in Brazil

Pierre Gasly is at risk of receiving a one-race ban as a result of his penalty point total, and he could potentially expose a Formula 1 rule because of it.

With a Formula 1-leading 10 penalty points, AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly is just two points away from receiving a one-race suspension. Making matters worse for Gasly is the fact that his points don’t even start to go away until next May.

Penalty points expire after 12 months, but Gasly has collected all of his 10 within the last six months. To put that in perspective, teammate Yuki Tsunoda has the next highest penalty point total with eight, but four of his expire within the next month.

Gasly has a chance to potentially expose this rule in this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.

The 26-year-old Frenchman has admitted that he cannot afford to be banned for a race next year once he switches to Alpine, as he could theoretically end up competing for a world championship.

The first two of his 10 points don’t expire until Monday, May 22, 2023, which is seven races into the 24-race 2023 campaign.

It seems somewhat bizarre to suggest, but Gasly’s best way to avoid being banned at all next season is to get banned for the 2022 season finale.

With two more penalty points this weekend, Gasly would be suspended for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit next Sunday.

Missing the final race of the 2022 season would not be ideal, given how long he has been with AlphaTauri and the Red Bull organization; he would certainly not want to go out like that. And it’s not like Gasly would intentionally screw up and do something dangerous to force the FIA’s hand.

But it’s the only way to make sure he won’t be looking over his shoulder for the first seven races of his first season with Alpine, and the fact that he could technically do it isn’t a positive for the FIA.

Gasly has called for some sort of change to this rule, but there is no easy fix. You can’t simply say that all points expire at the end of a season, since that would inevitably lead to more reckless moves later in the season. Drivers would realize that whatever points they are handed wouldn’t count toward the following year anyway.

On the surface, being a safer driver is the easiest fix — and the only truly surefire way of avoiding suspension. But a few of the six infractions this season which have led to Gasly’s 10 penalty points haven’t exactly lacked controversy. There will always be certain decisions which contain some sort of a subjective element.

Perhaps a streak of clean races could reduce a driver’s penalty point total, or perhaps the 12-month reset period could be changed to 12 races.

Or perhaps no changes need to be made, considering there is really only one driver who is at risk of being suspended.